In the following essay, Millstone explores the figure of the prostitute in “Le Lit 29” and reflects “on the ways in which the very structure of Maupassant's tale supports his unorthodox definition of service to country.”

Ne prostituez pas ces mots de patrie et de patriotisme

—Mirabeau

From Geneviève, patron saint of Paris, to Joan of Arc, the virgin warrior martyred by the English and finally canonized in 1920,1 to Marianne, allegorical incarnation of the Republic since 1792, women have long enjoyed pride of place in the French psyche as symbols or emblems of patriotism.2 Similarly, there exists in France a rich tradition of women warriors associated with almost every instance of violent political upheaval since the childhood of Louis XIV, from the original frondeuses, the Great Mademoiselle and the Duchess of Longueville...